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Rochester's William Carrier, left, keeps his eyes on the puck as he defends against Adirondack's Ryan Culkin during last Friday’s season opener. Adirondack’s Trevor Gillies was suspended for 12 games for slamming Carrier’s head to the ice late in the game.
(Photo:
ADRIAN KRAUS
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Amerks coach Chadd Cassidy wonders if Adirondack will still use Trevor Gillies in the same manner

Rookie winger William Carrier said the 12-game suspension was fair punishment

While Rochester Americans rookie winger William Carrier said the punishment for his attacker was fair, coach Chadd Cassidy believes teams must share responsibility for the actions of one-dimensional players like Trevor Gillies.

Gillies was suspended for 12 games by the American Hockey League, his punishment for the visor-first slam onto the ice of Carrier's helmeted head late in Friday's season opener.

"It's a pretty hefty suspension," Cassidy said. "At the same time, again, do we have room even in this league for players like that, that have a history of that sort of thing? I don't think so.

"I don't really have a feeling whether 12 is enough or not. I'm more interested to see how things work going forward."

With 3:09 remaining in Friday's game and Amerks defenseman Matt MacKenzie in a fight with Adirondack defenseman Pat Sieloff, Gillies grabbed Carrier and began throwing punches.

Carrier did not fight back and, while crouched in a protective posture on the ice, Gillies grabbed the neck of his sweater and his helmet, pulled him up and then slammed him visor-first into the ice.

Carrier, 19, was not injured.

"The league did its job," Carrier said. "His emotions got over him."

Gillies' role in hockey has been well defined over his 16 professional seasons: he is paid to fight. He has scored 11 goals and piled up 3,054 penalty minutes in 696 games.

This is the seventh time Gillies has been suspended by the AHL since 2002-03. The previous six were for a total of 21 games, including six- and eight-game bans.

The NHL suspended him twice -- for nine and then 10 games -- during the 2009-10 season when he played for the New York Islanders.

Considering that the NHL and, as a result, the AHL, continue to de-emphasize fighting and rid themselves of brawlers, Cassidy wonders why some organizations still employ them.

"You've got a pretty good idea of what they bring to the table," he said. "There's got to be some responsibility with the organization.

"Just like with (Buffalo Sabres winger) Patty Kaleta; we had to talk to him about curtailing what he does. He can't just be a heat-seeker."

Gillies will be eligible to return on Nov. 15. He will miss three games against the Amerks, but will be eligible to play in the Nov. 22 game in Glens Falls.

"To me, my reaction is kind of seeing how things move going forward," Cassidy said. "How does Adirondack use him? Is it going to be more of the same or is there some sort of curtailing of his play."

Gillies told Diana C. Nearhos of the Post-Star in Glens Falls: "I definitely wasn't trying to smack his head off the ice. I was trying to pick him up and once I realized that he wasn't fighting back, something clicked in my head that I was doing something wrong and I put him back down."